S. Bodeen - The Fallout

I heard a click.

Lexie had unbuckled her seat belt and slid over into the middle seat. “Eddy, tell him he can sit by me.”

My mouth dropped open. “Wait! What happened to him being a stranger?”

Lexie pulled on her bun until her hair fell down, loose around her shoulders. She ran a hand through it. “He doesn’t exactly look dangerous. ”

Resisting the urge to bang my head against the window, I watched as Tony opened the door. He smiled and greeted all of us, then got in the car.

I scowled the rest of the way, watching Eddy and Lexie gush over Tony. Eddy fist-bumped him and said, “Glad you could make it.”

Tony said, “Me too.” He turned to Lexie and held out a hand. “I’m Tony. Nice to meet you.”

Lexie shook it and giggled a little.

Was she blushing?

Seriously?

Eddy said, “That’s Alex. And EJ.” He patted Lee on the arm. “This here’s our uncle.”

I rolled my eyes and glared out the window at the traffic. Great. Part of me had been hoping Tony would be so obviously not a good fit with us that Eddy would agree with me and never invite him anywhere again. But in less than five minutes, that strange teenager had my sister swooning.

Tony said something that made both Eddy and Lexie laugh, and I stopped listening.

When we got to the stadium, Lee pulled into a VIP parking area and we all walked in together through the sky bridge and up to the small, private suite that was ours for the day.

A buffet was laid out on a side table, and silver dishes of ice held a variety of sodas, juices, and bottled water. “Wow,” said both Tony and I at the same time. We looked at each other, and then I looked away.

Sure, I’d grown up with similar layouts, never giving a thought to where my next meal was coming from, but it had been awhile. Having so many options of food and drink at my fingertips was something I had not yet learned to take for granted. I grabbed some napkins and dug in, taking a hot dog and dumping sweet relish all over it.

A couple tables were set up by the windows and I sat down at one. Our vantage point was high up, but right over home plate. Eddy, Lexie, and Tony were filling their plates, and Lexie came and sat with me.

Tony and Eddy sat down in leather chairs right beside us. Tony leaned back in a leather chair, looking totally relaxed as he and Lexie talked. How in the world was he fitting in so well with my family? Obviously from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak, he should have been feeling uncomfortable, or at the very least, he should have been one of those people who rebels against the excess of the suite.

But he was just enjoying every moment.

I wasn’t. But maybe I wasn’t being fair to him. Maybe I was being elitist by thinking he should bow over backward with gratitude.

I finished eating. There was still time before the first inning started. “I’m gonna go find a bathroom.”

Lee stood up to go with me, but I shook my head before Tony could notice my “uncle” wanting to accompany me to the bathroom. Lee didn’t look happy, but he sat back down and pointed. “There’s one down the hall.”

I smiled at him and whispered, “I’ll be fine.”

Out in the hallway, there were a lot of people gathering at the door of a suite. There was an exclamation, and a little girl in a wheelchair was pushed inside, and several people followed her. A bartender had just walked out of the room with a tray of dirty glasses and headed my way. I moved out of his way and kept going past that suite to the bathroom. On my way back, I passed the open door and someone called out something.

I kept walking.

“EJ?”

The sound of her voice made me stop more than the name did, since I certainly didn’t answer to it. I turned around.

Verity Blum was standing right in front of me.

Wearing a pink Mariners jersey, denim capris, and white flip-flops, Verity just stood there, hands on her hips, looking at me with her eyebrows raised.

“Why are you here?” The words spilled out before I realized how rude they sounded.

She cocked her head toward the party going on in the suite. “We came here with my brother. A wish-filling charity thing.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you here? Another research paper?”

“No. I’m just here at the game with my family.” I started to motion toward the small suite, and then realized what that might lead to. So I gestured back toward the bathroom, and the steps that led to the general seating. “My mom surprised us. I’m way over in the nosebleeds but I wandered and ended up here.” Way too many details. Truth is always simpler. I shrugged. “I better go before someone catches me up here.”

“Wait,” she said. “You could come in with me. They have tons of food.”

I glanced inside the door. “I probably shouldn’t. I better get back.” I smiled at her. “Thanks though. I’m glad I ran into you.”

She frowned. “Are you really? Because I thought, when you didn’t text me back, that—”

“No, I was just… busy. Trying to write that stupid paper.” I shrugged.

“So you’ll text me?”

I nodded. “Definitely.”

“Okay.” She set her hand on my arm for a moment, then went back into the suite.

I breathed out, relieved, and went to head back to my suite.

As I turned the corner, I ran smack into a man in a black T-shirt and black jeans. “Oh, excuse me, I—” As I looked more closely at him, my eyes narrowed. Was he the man from Costco? The man from the doomsday preparation site? I started to doubt myself, but as he looked up at me, his eyes widened, and he started to back off.

I reached for him, but he dodged me and jolted forward, and I had to turn around to chase after him. “Wait!” I called. I ran after him, glad the hallway was fairly empty so no one seemed to notice.

What was he doing there? Following me again? Following us? But how did he know where we’d be?

I had nearly caught up to him when a door to one of the luxury suites opened and a bunch of kids Reese’s age poured out, cutting me off from him. I tried to swim my way through, but there were too many.

I saw the man farther down the corridor. He had stopped right at the stairway and was looking back at me. There was a smile on his face, like he was glad he got away. But then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small white card.

A business card?

He held up the card, making sure I saw. Then he pulled out a pen, jotted something on the back of the card, and placed it on the railing of the stairs. He looked back at me.

I nodded.

He disappeared down the stairs.

As soon as I could get through the crowd, I headed over there and grabbed the card. I glanced at the back. A phone number. I flipped the card over. The front was a picture of a very nice kitchen with granite countertops. He obviously wasn’t trying to hide from me, leaving the card proved that. But if he wanted to talk, why did he run?

After the game, we dropped Tony off at the strip mall. Eddy got out for a minute and walked him over to the bus stop. I watched them laughing, and then Eddy waved and walked back to the car.

I couldn’t believe Eddy would trust him that much.

As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, I asked, “Does he know who we are?”

Eddy said, “No. Duh. He just thinks we’re some rich people. That’s all.”

Lexie said, “I think he’s cool. You should tell him who we are, Eddy.”

“Why?” I asked.

Lexie shrugged. “He wouldn’t tell anyone, I bet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, why ruin a good thing?’

I just stared out the window the rest of the drive. Back at the house, I went up to my room and pulled the business card out of my back pocket. The phone number on the back had a Seattle area code. I wasn’t all that sure I was ready to call him up. What could he want from me?